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Eurogamer Expo 2012 – Black Ops 2

Now I know the others won’t agree with me (apart from maybe Lloydy) but Eurogamer for me was all about Call Of Duty: Black ops 2. Of course, like the other guys I was excited to get my hands on all of the games before they come on sale but for me this was the main attraction. Has there been a more important franchise to the FPS genre than the Call of Duty games? You could argue all day about it and I’m sure some of the other monkeys would disagree but for me it casts a very long shadow that not many titles could step out of.

Thankfully because of the early bird tickets we had for the event the queue to play wasn’t as bad as I’ve read about on previous days. When I got into Earls Court I made a B-line straight for it but still had to wait over 2 hours, understandably so for a headline game such as this which is probably one of the most anticipated games in its genre so I was willing to do so, there was no way I wasn’t getting my hands on it. The stage was set, they had set out 4 pods of 12 players on each with 3 to a team, I politely said hello to my fellow comrades who sat either side of me and the games began.

First, the bad news; if you were a fan of the wager matches in Black Ops or, indeed, its in-game currency, they’re now things of the past. Kill Streaks have gone too, although they exist in the form of Score Streaks. The theme with Black Ops 2 seems aimed at delivering as much customisation to the player as possible without making the balance to weapon/perk focused. The create a class options have been overhauled somewhat, instead of a set format in which players are forced to pick a certain number of perks, weapons and pieces of equipment, in Black Ops 2, your assigned 10 character points to spend you please. Let’s say for example you’re a COD player who hardly ever uses their secondary weapon, in Black ops 2 you can trade this in and use the points for something else, making it as individual from the next player as possible.

The map we played was Yemen, this is a kind of street battle map set in a small town with lots of buildings and higher ground areas that all help towards giving you that sought after vantage point. Truth be told it took me a little while to get used to the fast firing action of COD because I haven’t played for a little while, but as soon as I got my bearings I loved it like I always have, I don’t think there is a better feeling in game than stabbing someone or likewise, a more gut wrenching feeling than being on the receiving end of a stab which (I don’t know about others) forces me into a rage that wont subside until I find the culprit and stab him right back. The way the game flows is still very much fast that and immersive action that the COD series have always done so well but this time the game almost feels more rewarding, for instance, saviour kills, headshots and multi kills are all heavily rewarded in the form of points that count towards your overall score.

In essence, the game has improved on its already brilliant foundations by adding in more customization to the linear side which was the class/perk system, when I played I felt like I was the only one out there who had picked the equipment, perks and score streaks I had because the combinations you can now choose are so vast that for everyone to pick the same options is highly unlikely. If you’re already a COD franchise fan and a FPS veteran then this game is definitely for you, see you on the battlefield!